I am thinking of trying the travel nurse thing as well. I have yet to decide on a company. It is so hard with all of the recruiters all wanting you to join their company. How do you decide??? I would guess in the bigger cities like San Diego and LA you will have tons of traffic, car accidents, shootings, robberies, and the list goes on. I tend to like the quiet side of life and want smaller hospitals.

advice
dear mochalover and iburbach,
i to am new and about to sign with access i have spoke with so many recuriters i could scream...... but i have really learned a lot and you have to tell not ask. or they will give you what they want after they are there to make some money as well. i you don't ask you don't get. tell them you want everything payed for like deposits,rentals and such you will get it if you ask and tell them how much you want to make you can usually get that if within reason. i was going to go with medical staffing solutions because they are great people, small and pay the best but you don't always get the location you want ,depends on your specialyt, jim marsh is owner and ana who the most awsome recruiter i have yet to deal with, she will not try to get you to go with them if its not right for you and she will given you so much advice you will feel guilty,and she is a nurse, at access they are all great people and mike tells you everything up front which is important to me. we are new and people will take advantage of us.my big things if traveling alone, it scares me to death, i want my own vehicle but traveling alone scares me, what do you guys plan on doing and would you be interested in doing travel buddy thing so we can weather the storm together, let me know..........otherwise good luck to you both, bonnie

Houstongirl,
I can totally relate to what you are feeling. I am scared to death too of being "alone", but I know this a great opportunity and I dont dont want to pass it up. I would be great to have a traveling buddy I am also speaking with someone at access nurse, but it is just so hard to decide? Where are you wanting to travel to?

Personally, I prefer the LA area. Companies should tell you exactly what they are providing such as... Wage, airfare,local transportation, type/location of housing, etc. Everything should be written out exactly as stated.

ca or az
hey mocha,
glad you replied to my note, and i am glad you chose access they are great. i am med/surg/tele so where they put you depends on your specialty. it would be great if we had them send us to the same place. i like to walk everyday so i hope to find some place that has nice scenery but i just want to get to a first assignment and get my feet wet. where do you live now and will you drive or fly. lots of decisions to make and i want to avoid making mistakes my first assignment. let me know what you have in mind i am waiting for my recruiter to call and let me know what is available. let your recruiter know that you are talking with me and i am working with mike my full name is Bonnie Short in live in league City ,texas who knows they might be able to work something out for us. let me know soon...........................bonnie

I want to go to Ca also and would love to find a partner or just to know someone else. Both of you can contact me and maybe we can try to be in the same city or even hospital.
[email protected]

ca on the 20th
Hey Salley,
Glad to hear from ya, I am about to go to fountain valley ca for an assignment and it is very beautiful there. I start on te 20th so I have lots to do until then. There are several other travel nurses that will be working in the same hospital so I am very happy about that. I have to go to Sacramento first then to newport beach so that will be a long drive but that is where you get your license. write me if you would like more information and let me know what your plans are, the more the merrier.
bonnie

Hi Houstongirl,
Keep me posted on Ca. i'm finishing up an assignment in a month or so i Ca is the next place i want to go. Let me know how you like the hospital the city is the pt load safe? All that good stuff. Oh and the weather how warm is it? Did you go with Access? I'm talking to Emerald Health they give u a huge stipend. R u doing 8 or 12hr shifts?
[email protected]
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